Sandro Rosell highlights the importance of winning the first game of the Champions League group stage

Sandro Rosell highlighted the importance of winning the first game of the Champions League group stage, especially seeing that Barça's first match is at the Camp Nou. “Winning the first game is important. It’s the first step, if you do it right, the second game is more simple. It’s especially important because we’re playing at home,” said the FCB president.

Rosell, who made these statements after presenting the “Quit smoking with Barça” campaign in Brussels, also noted how difficult it is to win the Champions League: “In the world of football nothing is easy. That’s especially true when it comes to the Champions League, every team comes into the competition wanting to do well; teams want to show Europe what they’re made of.” He added: “We’re not overconfident, we never are, especially when we play Champions League games.”

“The Clásico won’t decide anything”

When asked about Barça’s eight-point advantage over Real Madrid in the Liga, Rosell said: “This just started. There’s still so much ahead, four games is nothing. There’s a lot left to be said, many pages will be written, from here until the end of the competition.” Rosell went on to talk about the upcoming Clásico at the Camp Nou, which is scheduled for October 7.The match against Madrid “won’t decide anything,” said the FCB president, “we won’t be able to come to any conclusions until March.”